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Andrew Maraniss

New York Times bestselling author Andrew Maraniss writes sports and history-related nonfiction, telling stories with a larger social message. His first book, Strong Inside, received the Lillian Smith Book Award for civil rights and the RFK Book Awards’ Special Recognition Prize for social justice, becoming the first sports-related book ever to win either award. His young readers adaptation of Strong Inside was named one of the Top Biographies for Youth by the American Library Association and was named a Notable Social Studies Book by the Children’s Book Council. His acclaimed second book for kids Games of Deception on the first U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics was a Sydney Taylor Book Award recipient. He is also the author of Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke, which was named one of the “Top 100 Baseball Books Ever Written” by Esquire. Andrew lives in Nashville and is director of special projects at the Vanderbilt University Athletic Department, where he manages the Vanderbilt Sports & Society Initiative. Follow him on Twitter @trublu24 and online at andrewmaraniss.com.

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Dr. Amy Wilson

Dr. Amy Wilson serves as the NCAA’s Managing Director of Inclusion where she drives inclusive excellence throughout college athletics by supporting member institutions’ commitment to diversity, inclusion and gender equity among its student-athletes, coaches, and administrators.  Wilson leads the NCAA Office of Inclusion’s efforts to provide resources, education, and support in the core areas of disability, international, LGBTQ, race/ethnicity, and women.  An expert on gender equity and Title IX, she has authored multiple national reports on Title IX.   Wilson’s entire career has been in higher education where she won multiple awards for teaching excellence.  She was a tenured faculty member at Illinois College and served as the Faculty Athletic Representative.  A former student-athlete and member of the Illinois College Athletics Hall of Fame, Wilson has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English and earned a Ph.D. in Health and Sport Studies with a concentration in Athletic Administration at the University of Iowa.  For nearly two decades, she worked closely with nationally recognized Title IX expert Dr. Christine Grant on equity issues in intercollegiate athletics and has given numerous presentations on Title IX, gender equity, and inclusion on both the national and international levels.  In 2018, Women Leaders in College Sports honored Wilson with the Nell Jackson Award for her work as an advocate for gender equity and diversity

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Senator Evan Bayh

Senator Evan Bayh is a senior advisor at Apollo Management in New York. He is a former two-term governor of Indiana (1989-1997) and U.S. senator (1999-2011), serves as a strategic advisor to clients, particularly those whose business goals are impacted by the actions of Congress, the executive branch, or by governors and legislators across the country.

Senator Bayh joined Apollo after voters from his home state of Indiana elected him to two consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate. As a moderate Democrat, he worked in a bipartisan manner to seek consensus on several key issues, including financial services reform and healthcare. Senator Bayh served on several committees, including Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Energy and Natural Resources; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; Aging; and Senate Intelligence.

Prior to being elected to the Senate, he was elected to two terms as governor of Indiana, where he enacted welfare reform, cut taxes, and brought about fiscal discipline to the state’s budget. He also served as Secretary of State in Indiana (1986-1989).

Senator Bayh earned a B.S. in economics from the Kelley School at Indiana University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Indiana University.

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Kelly Amonte Hiller

Already a legend in the game as a player, Kelly Amonte Hiller has established herself as one of the sport’s greatest coaches after building Northwestern Lacrosse into a dynasty. In May of 2005, Amonte Hiller etched her name in the annals of college athletics when she guided her upstart Northwestern team to an undefeated season and the first NCAA Lacrosse Championship ever won by a team outside the Eastern Time Zone, the first of an incredible seven national titles.

After resurrecting a Northwestern program that had not competed at the varsity level in more than 10 years, Amonte Hiller led the Wildcats to the national semifinals 10 years in a row from 2005 to 2014 and tied an NCAA record with eight consecutive title game appearances in the process. Northwestern’s dominance since its breakthrough 2005 season has been nothing short of legendary. Since 2004, Northwestern has gone 49-11 (.817) in the NCAA Tournament, making Amonte Hiller the winningest coach in Tournament history.

Along the way, Amonte Hiller has produced the nation’s Tewaaraton Award winner in five different seasons as well as the Honda Sports Award recipient on seven occasions. Additionally Northwestern has featured 61 IWLCA All-Americans and won a total of 11 IWLCA positional Player of the Year awards (two attacker, five midfielder and four defender).

Northwestern’s rapid rise to national prominence under Amonte Hiller — particularly in an area of the country rarely associated with women’s lacrosse. In 2011, ESPN The Magazine named Amonte Hiller one of the 20 best recruiters across all college sports, joining the likes of other multiple-time NCAA champion coaches Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (men’s basketball) and Anson Dorrance of North Carolina (women’s soccer). In 2012, the Big Ten Network profiled the NU head coach as one of 12 Big Ten coaching icons in the conference’s history, putting her in the company of Big Ten legends such as Bobby Knight (Indiana), Bo Schembechler (Michigan) and Dan Gable (Iowa).

Amonte Hiller’s stunning success as the architect of the Northwestern Lacrosse program comes on the heels of one of the most outstanding playing careers the sport has ever seen. The Massachusetts native won back-to-back national player of the year awards while starring for the University of Maryland, and continued her career as a standout for the United States National Team for nearly a decade. In 2012, Amonte Hiller reached the pinnacle of her sport when she was inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame in recognition of her achievements as a player.

At Maryland, Amonte Hiller was a four-time All-American in lacrosse and the school’s all-time record holder for career goals (187), assists (132) and points (319). In addition, she earned All-America accolades in soccer for the Terrapins and was named the ACC Female Athlete of the Year in 1996 for all sports. She graduated from Maryland in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in speech communication.

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Robin Voigt

Robin Voigt finished her career as a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in US Tax National Quality and Risk Management (QRM). In that role, Robin assisted the tax practice in assessing risk issues. Robin also served as the Global Engagement Partner for a Fortune 1000 client and was the Greater Chicago Market Tax Diversity Leader as well as the Retired Partner Liaison. Robin was with the firm for twenty-nine years.

Before the QRM role, Robin was the Global Mobility Leader for the worldwide firm. As Global Mobility Leader, Robin was responsible for the strategic direction and administrative operation of the PricewaterhouseCoopers global deployment program for all lines of service.

Prior to assuming the position of Global Mobility Leader, Robin was a tax partner in the International Tax Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP assisting corporate clients in establishing as well as expanding their international business operations. With the corporate emphasis on global development and revenue generation, Robin was adept at working with companies to develop strategies that incorporate tax efficient structures which enabled future business growth.

As part of the PricewaterhouseCoopers international tax practice, Robin was instrumental in bringing an expertise on Far East Asia to the Midwest region. Robin spent three and one-half years with the PricewaterhouseCoopers office in Korea prior to joining the Chicago office. While in Korea, she served as the international services tax consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers clients currently operating or planning to operate in Korea.

Robin has a J.D. and an L.L.M. in Taxation from DePaul University and a B.A. from Northwestern University. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Florida. Over the years, Robin has been active as a member of the Florida Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Finance Exchange, the NU Club of Chicago, and the Sacred Heart Alumni Association Board. Robin is President Emeritus of the N Club (Northwestern letterwinners organizationhh) having previously served as both the Treasurer and Vice-President.

While at Northwestern, Robin majored in history. She played volleyball for three seasons, managed the women’s basketball team for one season and was a member of Delta, Delta, Delta Sorority. Title IX was funded Robin’s Junior Year. The first female student athletic letters were issued Robin’s senior year. When Robin received her letter and was admitted to the letterwinners organization, the N Club was called the N Men’s Club.

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Aminah Charles

Aminah Charles is a seasoned marketer and leader with 13+ years of experience working with CPG, Tech companies and startups to help build and execute strategies to support brand growth and development.

She currently serves as the Head of North America Sports for Beats by Dre where she manages the brand’s relationships and marketing efforts with major sports properties and professional athletes. In her time at Beats, Aminah has been instrumental in the brand’s largest marketing partnership ever with the NBA (2018). She has owned the development of all basketball marketing campaigns and launched Beats’ first ever licensed collection of NBA headphones globally. In addition to her work with leagues and teams, Aminah has signed, managed renewals and led brand activations with athletes across multiple sports in order to support product launches and develop marketing content. She’s led cross functional teams in building integrated global marketing campaigns for major sport moments including Olympics, Super Bowl and NBA Tip-off and Finals. Additionally, she lead’s the brand’s efforts across college sports including managing its NIL partnerships. Her specialization is not limited to sports — Aminah also spearheads both Beats’ HBCU Black Futures creative program and the Beats Black Equity Taskforce; both promoting diversity and inclusion internally at Beats and within the communities the brand serves.

Aminah’s first experience in marketing were at Nike and the New York Knicks before a 7+ year stint in brand marketing at Gatorade. At Gatorade, she worked in brand innovation, experiential marketing and led the Gatorade Player of the Year program. She also managed campaigns and initiatives to help evolve the brand from a sports drink company to sports fuel (protein bars, shakes, chews, etc.).

Additionally, Aminah has experience partnering with startups to help build out foundational elements like brand positioning and consumer acquisition strategies tied to product rollouts. She is a graduate of Hampton University where she was a 4-year Division-I volleyball scholarship athlete and earned her BS in Sports Management. She also holds an MBA in marketing from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

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Dr. Chinazo O. Cunningham

Dr. Cunningham is the Commissioner of the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS), in which she leads one of the largest statewide addiction treatment systems in the United States.  In this role, she oversees a budget of $1.5B and more than 750 staff, along with funding, certifying, and monitoring more than 1700 prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction programs, which serve over 680,000 people.

Dr. Cunningham is trained in internal medicine and addiction medicine and has spent over 20 years providing care, developing programs, and conducting research with people who use drugs. Her research has focused on improving access to care, utilization of health care services, and health outcomes.

Dr. Cunningham has authored over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, has been the principal investigator on numerous federally-funded grants, and has been recognized by local and national awards for her mentorship and scientific contribution to the field of addiction. Dr. Cunningham has also served on and chaired numerous local and national advisory committees, guideline committees, and grant-review study sections. She and her work have also been featured on many major media outlets.

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Deborah Tuerkheimer

Deborah Tuerkheimer joined the Northwestern Law faculty in 2014 after serving as a professor at DePaul University College of Law since 2009 and the University of Maine School of Law since 2002. Professor Tuerkheimer received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her JD from Yale. She teaches and writes in the areas of criminal law, evidence, and feminist legal theory. Her book, CREDIBLE: Why We Doubt Accusers and Protect Abusers, was published in October 2021. In 2014, Oxford University Press published her book, Flawed Convictions:  “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and the Inertia of Injustice. She is also a co-author of the casebook Feminist Jurisprudence: Cases and Materials and the author of numerous articles on sexual violence and domestic violence. After clerking for Alaska Supreme Court Justice Jay Rabinowitz, she served for five years as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, where she specialized in domestic violence prosecution. In 2015, Tuerkheimer was elected to the American Law Institute, an esteemed group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars dedicated to the development of the law.

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Kristina Minor

Kristina Minor joined Northwestern Athletics in June 2019 as Associate Athletic Director for Compliance. In this role, Minor oversees the Athletics Compliance Office and serves as the sport administrator for the women’s tennis program.

Prior to arriving in Evanston, Minor worked at Rutgers University, most recently as the Knights’ Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance. There, she oversaw the compliance rules education of coaches, student-athletes, administrators, and external groups, and served as the compliance liaison for various varsity programs and administrative departments, as well as the sport administrator for the women’s tennis team. During that time, Minor was honored with the 2017 National Association for Athletics Compliance Rising Star Award.

Prior to her tenure at Rutgers, Minor worked as the Assistant Director of Compliance at the Big Ten Conference, after stops at the NCAA and Nike.

Minor is an active member of National Association for Athletic Compliance, serving as Vice Chair of the Membership and Awards Committee. She is also a member of the Division I Committee for Legislative Relief.

A four-time tennis letterwinner and three-time Academic All-American at the University of Illinois, Minor received her Juris Doctor in 2013 from Marquette University Law School, and a Master of Business Administration in Strategy & Leadership from the Rutgers Business School in May 2019.

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Kate Drohan

Head softball coach Kate Drohan has built the Wildcats into a perennial power, winning three Big Ten Championships while qualifying for three Women’s College World Series appearances alongside her twin sister and associate head coach, Caryl Drohan.

Drohan led the ‘Cats on an incredible five-year stretch from 2005-09 in which NU compiled a  record of 215-77, reached the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament four times and became the first private school in NCAA history to advance to the WCWS semifinals in consecutive years (2006-07). Under Drohan, NU has made 13 NCAA Tourney appearances and has claimed five NCAA Regional titles. On March 27, 2021, the Drohans became Northwestern softball’s all-time wins leaders with a 15-7 win over Wisconsin for their 641st career win.

In the postseason under Dorhan, Northwestern is 36-30 in the NCAA Tournament since 2003, including a 5-4 mark at the Women’s College World Series. In Super Regional play since 2005, the Wildcats have won their Regional five times and advanced to the Regional final eight times.

The Wildcats were ranked in 76-consecutive NFCA coaches polls and 78-straight USA Softball polls dating from March of 2005 until March of 2010. NU spent 27 of those weeks in the top 10 of the NFCA rankings, and earned the program’s first No. 1 vote in 2008 after defeating then-No. 1 Arizona and then-No. 3 Texas A&M to begin the year.

Big Ten dominance is also one of Drohan’s hallmarks. The ‘Cats recorded top four finishes within the conference 12 times between 2004 and 2019, including Big Ten titles in 2006 and 2008. Northwestern also won the Big Ten Tournament title in 2008 and advanced to the championship game of the event in four of the previous seven years. Drohan’s career conference record is 240-132. NU led the Big Ten in total league victories in four-straight seasons from 2005-08.In 2006, Northwestern’s Big Ten title was its first since 1987, and the Wildcats qualified for the Women’s College World Series for the first time in 20 years.

Drohan joined the USA Softball Women’s National Team coaching pool for the 2009-12 quadrennium. She was named the head coach of the 2010 Futures National Team, leading the squad at the 2010 World Cup of Softball. She was slated to coach the National Team at the 2011 Japan Cup before that tournament was canceled after an earthquake and tsunami decimated the host city of Sendai.

Drohan came to Evanston from Boston College, where she had served as an assistant coach and assistant athletic director for facilities.

A much respected and sought-after clinician, Drohan delivers lectures to players, coaches and students of the game across the country. Beyond the softball arena, the business community has shown a strong interest in the leadership tools Drohan has developed within the program, leading to speaking engagements in the management world as well. In October of 2019, it was announced that Drohan had been elected President of the NFCA and would serve a three-year tenure beginning in 2020.

Drohan earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Providence and as a member of the Providence softball team, she was named to the All-Big East team three times.